


Heat

by TeaRoses



Category: Cowboy Bebop
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-27
Updated: 2010-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-07 14:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/66022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaRoses/pseuds/TeaRoses
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Faye invades Spike's rest for a little conversation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heat

Spike was lying on the couch and smoking, and Faye was watching him. She didn't bother pretending not to. There was a certain grace about him, and a certain reserve, even when he was sprawled out like that wearing nothing but his pants.

She looked at his skin. It was beautiful, which unnerved her. He had had a lifetime of fighting, hadn't he? But his skin was as unscarred as Faye's own. Sometimes she was certain that his skin would shine even in darkness. She was convinced somehow that if she touched him he would sear her hand, that it would be like touching the end of his cigarette.

After a minute of staring she got up and stood over him, saying in a surly voice, "Share the couch!"

He looked up at her. "Go away."

"Well you're certainly no gentleman," she replied.

"You should have figured that out ages ago."

She had, actually. And she didn't know why it hurt her. But part of her wanted Spike to notice her, to do something for her sake. That wouldn't happen though, and she wasn't sure why she even thought of it. When had she started needing people? Need was a losing proposition; she should back away from it. But still she stood there, looking at Spike's wiry frame and wondering about his heat.

"You shouldn't lie around with your shirt off, you know. It's really rude," she said.

"Who asked you? Anyway you've seen Jet naked. I was there when he lost his shorts."

"What does that have to do with anything? I didn't want to see that any more than I want to see this," she said with a sweeping gesture at the couch.

Spike looked her in the eye. "Then why do you keep staring at me?"

She parted her lips but couldn't think of a thing to say. She watched as the ash burned down on his cigarette.

"You know, if you keep smoking while you're lying down like that, you might fall asleep and set fire to the couch," she said finally.

"No I won't."

"I'm serious, Spike; it happened to my friend's uncle!"

"You haven't got any friends."

"Stop it, Spike. It was someone I knew when I was a casino dealer. Her uncle set fire to his own sofa."

"Did he die?" Spike asked.

"No, he woke up in time, and ran for a bucket and poured water all over it," she said. "Then he dragged it out onto the porch to dry. And do you know what?"

"What?"

"A few days later all the kids in town were running around with soaking wet money."

"Where did this guy live that he couldn't just call the fire department?" he asked suspiciously.

"I don't know, Earth maybe," stumbled Faye.

"You made that story up, didn't you?" said Spike.

"Yeah," she replied. "I don't have any friends."

"And we don't have any money," said Spike.

"I'll bet there's something in this couch that would burn," she said then. She was looking at Spike.

"Jet's old porno magazines maybe," he muttered.

"Don't tell me he really has any?" said Faye.

She put her hand under the cushion Spike's shoulders rested on and began to dig around.

"Get your hands away from me, woman!" he snapped.

"Oh relax," she said. "Hey, I found one!"

She pulled a slick periodical from under the cushion and waved it in Spike's face.

"That's Bounty Hunter Monthly," he said evenly.

"Yeah, but you should see the centerfold," she said.

She put the magazine down behind her. Slowly, as if she could pretend she had a good reason, she put her hand down on his chest.

It didn't burn, it just felt warm. Like skin, like anyone else, like Faye herself. He looked back at her, not glaring for once, but not smiling either. She moved her hand up his chest to his neck and then his face and stroked his chin gently. It was smooth. He closed his eyes, and she began to touch his forehead, then brushed her hand through his hair. Spike's breath was slow and even and she brought her other hand up to touch his arm.

Suddenly she heard Ed's voice calling sing-song nonsense. Spike's eyes flew open, and Faye stood up and backed away. For a moment he looked almost as vulnerable as she felt, but then his face closed off again. Ed chased Ein into the room, singing about vegetables.

"Hey," said Spike harshly. "Could you keep it down? People are trying to sleep."

"Spike shouldn't sleep and smoke!" sang Ed. "Spike will set the Bebop on fire!"

He sat up and ground his cigarette in the ashtray.

"I'm going to go to my room, where I can do whatever I want!"

Faye laughed a slightly false laugh, and handed him Bounty Hunter Monthly. "Here, take something to read."

He took it without looking and cursed under his breath. That also hurt somehow, because she wanted to believe something had been about to happen. But in the end she could only stand there, watching him walk away.

**Author's Note:**

> The story Faye tells actually happened to my uncle.


End file.
